Pub date: May 7th, 2024
Huge shoutout to @netgalley for this fun read

When I hear female serial killer, I come running. Also helps when you have a little serial killer girl gang to buddy ready with 👯‍♀️ This book was so fun! I snagged the audio from Hoopla to listen to while at work and the narrator was amazing! I personally loved the character of Saffy. I thought she was witty, smart, a vigilante, and maybe a little obsessive and stalkery 😂 I wish we would’ve had more about her ✨vigilante ways✨ in the book. I enjoyed the dual POV between Saffy and Jon, and we got breadcrumbs throughout the story of why Saffy is the way she is. If you want a quick, cutesy thriller/romance definitely check this one out

I was surprised to find my self so interested in this book, since I struggled to get invested in the first half. In the arc, it would have been helpful each chapter to have an indication as to who the pov was from. Overall I was a fan of this book! Thanks so much for the early review opportunity

it had a good premise and i was expecting a book more serious and with deep feelings and explanations of how and why she turned into a serial killer but i got a very weird looking romance and more pov from the man than the supposed main character so i was disappointed.

it had its funny moments but that was not why i was reading it for, the plot was very predictable from the very beginning.

the writing was very childish and unserious (as i already said) so i really wasn’t enjoying it.

thank you netgalley for the advance copy in exchange of an honest review.

rating: ☆☆.5/5

Bad Men was a tale of a female serial killer that seeks revenge, and she so happens to fall in love along the way. The premise of killing bad men, like rapists, domestic abusers, and murderers was intriguing and I thought it had its funny moments...and she was GLAMOUROUS to boot! I'd recommend the audible version.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Bad Men is the story of Saffy Huntley-Oliver, a female serial killer who develops a crush on a true crime podcaster.

My favorite part of this book was the humor. There were a lot of laugh-out-loud lines, particularly when Saffy was inner-monologuing about murder and sociopathy. The line, "Fortunately I had the gloves, which were basically hand condoms" will never not be funny to me.

I'm also a huge true crime and mystery fan, so I found the plot engaging, albeit somewhat predictable. I enjoyed the morality discussions around murder and I liked that Saffy's humanity was developed a bit throughout the book. She has her own moral code that she refuses to cross, which made her more likable. That being said, there were a few things she did that were hard to get past, particularly one of the actions she took at the beginning of the book that risked an innocent life. I have a feeling that that particular scene will prevent some others from connecting with her as well.

Overall, if you want a fun thriller with a very morally gray (like dark gray) character, then this would be a good book for you! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

If you know me, you know I love a smart woman who kills bad men 💅 Add in a lil intrigue, a lil romance (heads up: not spicy!), a lot of vigilante justice… I'm fully sold! Couldn't put this one down, it was "light" without being corny or dumb, and it was so, so satisfying.

Pick this one up if you love: thrillers that should be read on the beach, women who know what they want and how to get it, and a well-thought-out plan to take matters into your own hands.

This was SUCH a fun vacation read! I read this last week while traveling and it was the perfect book to help me shift from work mode into vacation mode.

The perspective shifts between first person narration from the POV of Saffy, a wealthy socialite - and a serial killer, but one with a conscience, who only kills men who deserve it for their bad behavior toward women. We also get chapters told in third person perspective, showing us Jonathan Desrosiers, a true crime author and podcaster who withdraws from his career after getting a little too close to a case. Saffy engineers a meet-cute with Jonathan (if your idea of meet-cute involves a little mild animal endangerment), and the story unfolds from there.

I don’t want to spill any details, but trust me, this is a great thriller. The shift between POVs keeps the pace moving right along, and Saffy is a fantastic character - on the one hand, you can kind of understand why she does what she does, but on the other hand, she is clearly unhinged… but in a likable way? While there were some things that were clearly foreshadowed, there were enough twists and surprises to keep me engaged.

This makes for a great summer read, or you can take a page out of my book and bring it with you on your next vacation. If you enjoy thrillers, or your favorite Taylor Swift song is “no body, no crime,” then you’ll also enjoy this new release.

thanks netgalley and the overlook press for the eArc!

i had fun this one but i can’t say that much was surprising to me (had one gasp). it’s pretty clear what happened but the explanation of how we got there did have some interesting twists. second half picked up speed for sure.

some of the “feminism” was stupid but i liked the general concept and motivation fueling Saffy. Jon was kinda boring.

A frothy book about a bad men-targeting serial killer who finds herself with a crush.

Saffy has family wealth and doesn't have to work, so her time is free to off bad men (rapists, murderers, domestic abusers). And that's her passion. But recently she's developed a fixation on Jonathan, a popular true-crime podcaster.

Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen featured more of Jonathan and his perspective than I was expecting. It was less a juicy feminist revenge plot and more a story of a woman trying to get what she wants, other people be damned. To be sure, there are plenty of "women's wrongs" described, that was just less of the focus - a lot of the plot is driven by Jonathan and what's going on with him.

Still, I found this a fun read, especially the audio narrated by Nathalie Buscombe. She really brought Saffy to life.

This book was fun! The concept of a killer of bad men was interesting and different from acting I’ve ever read. It did drag on a little on the middle, but the end was satisfying without being too predictable. I always enjoy dual narrators and liked the perspective of both main characters.

I don’t think this book is what it promises – a feminist serial killer thriller. The synopsis sells this as a female-lead American Psycho, but the plot is a lot different than that. But not in a bad way? You start with Saffy Huntley-Oliver, who leads a double life as a model by day and a murderer by night. Her meticulously crafted lifestyle is threatened by a horrible disaster – a crush. Her obsession with true crime podcaster Jon leads her to orchestrate a complicated meet-cute that only gets more complicated when she learns he’s being framed for a murder he didn’t commit. Now she has to help him catch the real killer or risk her new man being put behind bars.

One of the most unexpected things about this story is that it is half in Jon’s perspective. Saffy’s chapters are funny and ironic and her backstory is twisted and entertaining, but most of the plot is conveyed through Jon. He’s likable enough, but the story unfolds more like a fucked-up romcom than a true thriller. There’s definitely more dates than crime-solving and every conversation that involved two women revolves around the men that they want to date. This book just isn’t the “feminist thriller” that it is marked to be. It’s a romcom with blood.

That said, I had trouble putting this one down – it was fast-paced and it wraps up in a way that worked for me. So, I’d recommend this to anyone who is looking for something like that, but I do think the way this is presented could be a turn-off to people who would be looking for something grittier, but I still liked this for the light humor, mystery and romance.

3.75 stars

Saffy is a feminist, so she only murders men. Specifically, as you might guess from the title, bad men. But for the first time in her life, she's developed a more-than-passing interest in a not-so-bad man: Jonathan, a true crime podcaster and author. A bit of an awkward match for a serial killer, but the heart wants what it wants. Meanwhile, what Jonathan wants is for the police to believe him that he's not responsible for the dead body that turned up on his doorstep the same night that his wife left him. Lucky for him, Saffy is more than willing to help him find out whodunnit. After all, who better to catch a killer than...another killer?

This is a fun and snarky read, and any time a book involves a female serial killer I'm absolutely sold. If you're also this way then you'll have a good time here, but it's not my top rec in this subgenre. I liked Saffy's humor but I didn't connect to her as much as some FMCs, probably because this was dual POV and a lot of similar books I've read haven't been. I did enjoy Jon's POV, though, so I wouldn't change that. I did guess all the twists and reveals correctly, which was a bit disappointing, but I did have a good time reading, and in the end, that's all you can really hope for. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen was a light mystery with a female character that gets sidetracked by her crush.

This book was quite entertaining. I loved the humor mixed in with the serial killer's mind. I found the the characters compelling and likeable which helped keep my interest. The mixture of a true crime writer and an actual serial killer was spot on. I was intrigued by the premise of the book and it did not disappoint! Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

The premise sucked me in and honestly should've been gold. Instead of a badass female serial killer out for revenge on women everywhere we get a love sick teenager unable to properly process emotions. The side characters were filler, the plot predictable and riddled with holes, and there's hardly any talk of her actually being a killer.

3/5 - This was very fun, surprisingly different and totally not my typical read. The premise was fascinating - a stunning socialite serial killer who targets *bad men* - rapists, adulters, abusers, predators…the worst of the worst - falls in love with a true crime podcaster who finds himself in a bit of trouble. I typically steer clear from thrillers and anything murdery, and while there was quite a bit of both it was also darkly funny. I wasn’t a huge Jon fan but Saffy was a riot and her running commentary on the patriarchy was 👌🏻Though stressful at times, the story was pretty predictable and the pacing was a bit off. I wasn’t floored, but had fun diving into something different!

Thank you to @netgalley, Overlook Press and Cohen for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. OUT TOMORROW!

Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen is about a socialite named Saffy…who is also a serial killer of, you guessed it- bad men! She’s admired Jonathan from afar and thinks they’d be perfect for each other. The one problem? He researches and helps catch serial killers for a living. 👀

I LOVED this book and will be recommending it for ages. Saffy is truly unhinged and I love it! The ending wasn’t a complete surprise, but I didn’t mind being able to guess the twist. I think Saffy being a feminist could have been done better, but overall not what I read this book for.

This book is dark and funny. It has romance, mystery, and suspense. Honestly, the perfect mix of everything!

It’s just a FUN read! Also I’m obsessed with the ken doll heads on the US cover! 👱🏻‍♂️👱🏻‍♂️

It’s pub day in the US is tomorrow, 5/7, so go get a copy asap!! Thank you NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!

TW: murder, blood, SA (including rape and pedophilia), stalking, kidnapping, abuse, torture
Do your research before reading!!

#BadMen #JulieMaeCohen #Mystery #Suspense #DarkHumorFiction #Fiction #BookRecs #BookRecommendations #BookReviews #Bookstagram #NewBook #GreatBook

I loved this book, even more than I thought I would just by the synopsis. Anything with the words "serial killer" in a thriller book is pretty much a guarantee for me, but Bad Men had me intrigued by more than just that. Saffy is a killer, but she's also falling in love. She's funny, unpredictable, and honestly someone I could picture myself being friends with. I loved the Dexter vibes, and the fact that there's a dog named Girl pretty much nailed this one for me.

A FMC who's a serial killer and only goes after cheating, lying, abusive men? Sign me up! I really didn't know what I was getting myself into with that first chapter. There are quite a few triggers in this book so I would suggest looking those up before diving into this one. The book was witty, funny, and wasn't at all what I was expecting.

This was such an entertaining story. There was a good amount of tension throughout with Saffy trying to hide her serial killer ways. Jon was also interesting and his breakdown after being victimized seemed very real. My favorite was Girl, the bestest pooch used as a pawn in Saffy’s games. Girl has got some good intitution about people! I am definitely going to be on the lookout for more from Cohen!